An Angel in Haven
by Leftmango
Summary: One-shot, Artemis Fowl/ Holly Short ... Not all of it fits entirely with the books but it's what was in my head:D She's hundreds of years  older than him, she knows it can't work, but what can she do without him?


**Ex-LEPrecon on land resources store, Dublin**

'Watch out' Artemis said with a smirk as he stunned the scaly creature creeping up behind Holly.

'You drive me crazy, mud boy' she glared back at him.

'You love it really' he winked.

'You wish' she snapped angrily.

_Maybe I do, _he thought, _maybe I do._ But out loud he said, 'and again, captain, you ought to be more careful,' as he pointed his gun over her shoulder and stunned another goblin.

Holly cursed inwardly. She wasn't going to be distracted by a mud boy. 'Come on,' she sighed through gritted teeth and then led him out of the room slowly as they checked around for any further reptiles.

That was when a wave of wrinkled creatures came tumbling down the staircase armed with LEP buzz batons. 'D'Arvit!' Holly swore. 'How did they get hold of them?' and she aimed her stun gun up at the crowd. Goblins are stupid as she well knew and they were already fighting with each other about who would be the first down the stairs, the first to stun the LEP captain or the mud boy and take them back to Koboi. She knew what she was doing; Artemis and Holly would find it hard to fight them all off at once. They tried anyhow.

'Foaly!' Holly said in a loud whisper into her communications device.

'Captain,' he replied.

'Is there any way of disarming the buzz batons?'

'We haven't given you any, Holly,'

'No but somebody's given the goblins some.'

'D'Arvit. Just shoot them, Holly I'll see what I can do.'

She took Foaly's word as a command and began to fire at the goblins. She had a good aim and after each shot a goblin fell down, creating a commotion among the goblins they fell on top of, but she was far outnumbered and it wasn't long before the leaders of the group began descending the stairs.

She knew the buzz batons could do no more harm than stun them, but it was what might happen after they were stunned that she was worried about. She turned to Artemis at her side, who paused his expert shooting of the goblins to give her a quick wink.

Butler burst into the room then and yelled at them to get out. 'They're just goblins, butler,' Artemis said, looking vaguely annoyed, 'it's nothing we can't handle.'

'Oh really? Well the bomb in the ceiling just might be.' He said gesturing up at a small flashing device above them. Artemis cursed, how could he not have noticed it?

'If it's real it'll kill them too, butler. Surely no goblin is stupid enough to kill himself in an attempt to kill someone else?'

'I don't think it was them who put it there,' he said. And then ran out of the room with Artemis and Holly … and unfortunately a few of the faster goblins. Before they had a chance to do anything, the building in front of them exploded in a flash of blinding light. Artemis squeezed his eyes shut and looked away.

'Thank you, butler,' he said, and butler nodded. He was only doing his duty. The few goblins that had managed to escape seemed to have been driven slightly insane by the light burning their eyes ... and their brothers. Captain Dolcate licked his eyeballs frantically and looked around. He needed to report back to Koboi. There was no point trying to get the humans or the fairy now. Not in his opinion anyway. His deceased family was far more important and he was sure nothing could have killed them. Opal would know how to get them back. He needed to give her the information they'd retrieved too. He ran off and was soon followed by the others.

Artemis recovered quickly enough to stun the last escaping goblin but the others were gone before there was anything he could do about it. He walked over to the collapsed figure angrily. He knew he'd be blamed for this. They had let some of the goblins run off with one of Foaly's files. And not just any file. The Artemis Fowl file. There was no way root would let him get away with this.

**Police Plaza, Haven**

Back in Police Plaza, Artemis' fears were realised. 'You let them escape, mud boy. Aren't you meant to be a genius? There's a thousand different ways you could have stopped them and _still you didn't._'

Artemis said nothing. Defending himself wasn't a way to make root happy. Not that that made any difference. Root glared at Artemis' silence and made up his mind. 'Send them back, Holly.' He ordered and then marched out. Artemis raised his eyebrows, _send them back?_ Did that mean they were going home? He'd enjoyed working on this mission with the LEP but going home wouldn't be too awful, he was sure he'd see Holly again anyway.

'Commander!' Holly called after Root's retreating figure. 'Please, commander, it wasn't deliberate. It wasn't his fault. He tried commander.'

_Perhaps, _Artemis thought, _being 'sent home' was something slightly worse than it sounded._

'Do it, captain. That's an order.' And he was gone.

'What is it, Holly?' Artemis asked with true sincerity. 'What do you have to do?'

Holly had not been planning on telling them. She had been planning on just doing it so she wouldn't have to see the hurt in their eyes. But who could say no to Artemis Fowl? 'Mind-wipe you,' she admitted, 'I have to mind-wipe you, and send you home.'

Artemis nodded. It was no more than he should have expected. 'Okay. Well. I suppose you should get on with it,' his heart ached. He knew it _should _be because he was losing so many friends and memories and that thrill he got at being involved in something he shouldn't even know about, but really it was because he was never going to see Holly again.

Butler volunteered to go first. Holly and butler were both soldiers. And they were friends. Holly would miss butler's company and assistance. In all honesty she felt sorrier for herself than them. They would forget everything. She would still have to remember both of them. She stared into butlers eyes and watched as they blurred and the memories faded away. He was soon unconscious.

She turned to Artemis. 'Thank you, captain,' Artemis said. 'Thank you for everything.' Holly smiled. She could feel the tears behind her eyes threatening to fall. She pushed them away and stood in front of the boy, staring into his blue eyes. Before he began to forget Artemis did something he would never have otherwise dared to do. He leant towards her very slowly, and kissed her softly on the lips. There was only one thing wrong with the kiss; both their eyes were open in order to complete the mind wipe. When everything left Artemis' brain, his lips were still on hers. Holly always thought letting go would be the hardest thing she'd ever have to do.

It was barely a year later when trouble started kicking off again. Foaly had been doing a routine check on threats by hacking general accounts and files when he'd come across an array of strange coded messages sent from Opal Koboi to many known criminals across the globe. He decided this was enough proof for root that something fishy was going on.

Root, however, disagreed. 'Decode the messages, Foaly, and then we'll decide,' he said. But unfortunately for Foaly it wasn't as simple as that. Koboi knew perfectly well that it wouldn't be hard for Foaly to find the messages, so she had fool-proofed them. Or 'Foaly-proofed' them as she liked to say.

It didn't matter how Foaly tried, he couldn't find any pattern to the unusual shapes and lines. His work was computers, technology and inventing. Not code cracking. If his computer could have done it, then that would have been entirely his area, but this code demanded manual cracking, and that was something Foaly couldn't quite get his head round. He needed a genius. He needed Artemis Fowl. Of course he did. As if the lower elements could survive without him for more than a year. It was time to bring him back.

He presented his rehearsed argument to root with Holly by his side for support. Root was a stubborn person who's opinions could not easily be shifted. And his opinion was that they were better off without Artemis and butler.

Holly had been shocked at Foaly's suggestion of bringing them back. 'But why not?' Foaly had asked. 'They're your 'friends' after all. I'm telling you I can't crack this code without Artemis so unless you can find another genius with knowledge of the People then I need him.'

'Why do they have to know about us?' Holly had asked, 'besides Artemis and butler _don't _know about us. That's the point.'

'We can jolt their memories. They have to know about us because otherwise we have to explain everything and we're risking the lives of everyone under the earth if we don't know we can trust whoever it is.'

Holly had to admit he was right. There was no one else for the job. It wasn't that she didn't want to see Artemis … it was that she didn't know if she could after what had happened the last time she had. She'd lived without any contact with him for a year and been fine. She didn't want to be reminded and then have to say goodbye again.

Root looked at them as if they were mad. 'Bring Fowl back? The mud boy who firstly kidnapped _you, _Holly, and put the lives of the People in peril _multiple _times and then let Opal Koboi have hold of _his own _file. I'm sorry but if he comes back we won't just be risking _our _lives, we'll be risking his. Koboi is sure to know everything she needs to know about him now and she'll use it to her advantage if he comes back. We could be walking straight into a trap. She'll _know_ Foaly could find her messages, she'll _know _he can't crack them, and if she's read that file she'll know Artemis can. Bringing him back could be exactly what she wants us to do.'

Holly had to admit he could be right. It was definatley the sort of thing Koboi would do. 'You might be right, commander,' she said, 'but you might not be. This could be something important and we can't work it out without his help.'

'Fine but it's on your shoulders.' He snapped and then shooed them out of his office. Holly breathed a sigh of relief. She still didn't know what it was going to be like seeing Artemis again, but she knew she wanted to.

**Fowl Manor, Dublin**

Holly flew over to Fowl manor the next day. She was apprehensive about seeing her old 'friends' again, but had volunteered for the job since it had to be someone who could drive a shuttle and preferably fly over to the manor itself. She wasn't happy to let any other pixie do that job. She landed outside the front door and wondered how she should handle this. Before too much thinking, she knocked.

Butler's familiar face opened it and stared at her in amazement. 'Butler!' she said before she could stop herself. He looked behind him as though hoping to see someone else she was talking to.

'Who are you?' he asked with a raised eyebrow. Upon closer inspection of her pointed ears, he corrected himself, '_what _are you?'

She gasped silently. Foaly had reminded her about this a million times, but still she had forgotten. They didn't know who she was. She'd hoped the sight of her might have reminded them, but it hadn't. 'I – er – Holly short,' she held out her tiny hand, 'Nice to meet you.'

He ignored it. 'What do you want? How do you know who I am?'

'It's a long story. I'm going to have to see you and Artemis together.' She said. 'Please.' She added nervously.

He held up his Sig Sauer and pointed it at her forehead. She gulped and tried to remember when they had been friends. 'Put down your weapons.' He said slowly.

'I'm unarmed.' Holly said holding up her hands.

He cautiously put the gun back into his belt. 'Well I'm not so don't try anything, pixie.' He said, and then led her inside.

'Artemis, you're needed.' He called. Artemis had ordered some incredibly strong magnets to help him in a particularly complicated crime he was in the process of committing, and even though they were due tomorrow, he presumed they'd arrived early and he needed to sign so he pulled himself away from the computer and went downstairs to see a fairy standing in his hallway. Or at least that was what it looked like. He stared.

'Artemis …' Holly whispered. She'd thought letting go of him was the hardest thing she'd ever have to do. She was wrong. Seeing him and him having no clue who she was, was the hardest thing she'd ever have to do. The last time she'd seen him, he'd kissed her. Now he stared at her as if she was something from outer space.

A few hours later the three of them were sitting in Artemis' living room. Holly had told them everything she could about their time among the People. Both of them were strangely willing to believe it, seemingly a side-effect of having been through it. Butler had asked her question after question as though arguing with himself as to whether or not it could be true. Artemis on the other hand had remained silent, watching her as she spoke.

She turned to face him once she'd finished. 'That's why I'm here,' she explained. 'Foaly needs your help to crack this code. You're our only hope, Artemis.' She stared into his eyes and longed for him to remember her.

'Take me to your leader.' He smirked. 'I'll do it. I don't know if I remember or believe any of this. I must be hallucinating but I'll do it.'

**Police Plaza, Haven**

'And _that, _Foaly,' Artemis said triumphantly, 'is how you crack a code.'

Foaly nodded appreciatively. Now they'd cracked the code he could input it into his computer and translate the messages. It would take some time, but now he knew it was possible he didn't mind. Holly smiled at Artemis in thanks; he nodded back, no trace of emotion on his face. 'Can I talk to you, captain?' he asked suddenly.

She nodded, almost irritated by his formal use of the word 'captain'. Her name was Holly and that was what it had been to him. They left the room together and he looked at her searchingly. 'Captain…' he started 'I remember one thing. I remember your eyes and I'm sure it was _your _eyes. Seeing them now…they're the same as the ones in my memory.' She said nothing. 'Why would I remember your eyes? I have this strange dream that comes to me sometimes where I am …' he cleared his throat, 'kissing someone. Someone with your eyes.' She still said nothing. 'Did I – I mean – did we …' he broke off nervously. He was definatley unprepared for a situation like this. A few hours ago he had been a child mastermind criminal trying to find some way of breaking into the most security protected building in Ireland. Now he was just a boy … in the fairy world under the ground asking a pixie if he'd ever kissed her.

She followed his lead by awkwardly clearing her throat. 'When I had to mind-wipe you … I guess … it was difficult saying goodbye so …yes …' she admitted.

Without warning, to either of them, Artemis leant forwards and pressed his lips on hers once more. This time they both had their eyes closed. Suddenly he remembered everything. Nothing in his brain could quite explain how clearly he remembered kissing her, and staring into her hazel eyes. It must all be true … so it all came flooding back to him as he pulled away.

'Well' he said, regaining himself, 'that solves that then.'

'What?' Holly asked, feeling slightly dizzy.

'I remember everything. And now I can help you defeat Opal Koboi.' He smiled. There was something in his eyes that told Holly there was more than one reason for the kiss.

**Koboi laboratories, The Outskirts of Haven**

Opal Koboi sat cross-legged on her hoverboy watching the scene. It had been simple enough to plant a camera in the LEP headquarters and now she knew they had Fowl. It couldn't have turned out any better. She had known Foaly would find the messages of course but never thought he'd bring Fowl back to help de-code them. The fact that they could read them didn't bother her any more. Before, it would have done, but now Fowl was there it made no difference.

The messages told of her plan to bio-bomb Fowl manor and dispose of the meddling mud family forever. She had always been planning to go ahead with it, presuming the LEP would never find out. Now they _had _found out it didn't matter because Fowl was certain to return to his home in order to try and save his family and his bodyguard's sister.

She took the device she had made to control the bio-bomb out of her pocket. 'Hmm' she thought aloud, and then turned it off. Since Fowl knew what was going on she'd rather take care of things herself. Lead them of track a bit. She giggled and swept out of the room.

**Fowl Manor, Dublin**

Once they had decoded the messages Artemis had forced Holly to fly him and butler back up to Fowl manor. 'Are you sure this is a good idea, Artemis?' she asked him. 'Koboi knows what she's doing. She might've planed this all along.'

'I don't care if she did, Holly. My family is in danger.'

_Would you look at this, _Holly thought, _Artemis Fowl caring about his family._

'The whole of the fairy population could be in danger! We're probably walking straight into a trap. She's dangerous, Artemis, don't underestimate her.'

'You don't think I could beat her?' he asked, a spark of red in his eyes.

'I just think you should be careful. I don't want you to get hurt, Arty.' _Arty. Really. _Had she just said that?

He didn't seem to notice. Butler watched the bickering pair with a trace of annoyance in his eyes. It wasn't his place to say but he agreed with Holly. Artemis was being ignorant, a very unusual trait in a child genius. Not that he could blame him, his sister, Juliet, was there too, he wanted to go back just as much as Artemis did, he was just more cautious about it.

'This is up to me, Holly, they're my family, it's my house, and it's my decision.'

'Fine but if you get me killed, mud boy.' She glared at him. How could she ever have thought he was decent?

He glared straight back at her.

As soon as they arrived Artemis charged in, feeling truly worried for his parents. Butler knew something was wrong. He always did. 'Artemis!' he called.

Holly spun round. 'What's happened? What is it?' she asked butler frantically.

'Something's wrong.' he said and then they both ran after Artemis to the house. He had already gone in.

It had been a simple enough matter for Opal Koboi to enter Fowl manor. She was a pixie after all. And a genius one at that. She was waiting in the main entrance when, inevitably, Artemis came running in. 'Hello, mud boy' she greeted him, and then raised her neutrino 3000.

The last thing Artemis thought was that Koboi was holding the same gun Holly liked to use. Holly. He'd had a fight with her and now… was he even going to see her again? And then he blacked out.

Holly and butler came crashing through into the building seconds later, but Opal had already gone. 'Artemis!' Holly cried seeing him lying as though dead on the floor. 'Butler, do something!'

**Beaumont Hospital, Dublin**

Holly sat by Artemis' side and listened to the steady, rythmetic beeps signifying his heart beat, with her eyes closed and his hand in hers. 'Wake up, Artemis, please. For me. I'll never forgive myself for bringing you back if you die … please Artemis. The first time I lost you was bad enough, I can't lose you again.' The tears spilled down her cheeks. She would never normally have said anything so clichéd or cheesy, but he couldn't hear her, and she truly meant it.

'You'll be all right,' she said. More to herself than to him. 'You'll be fine, Arty, you always are. And we always laugh about it afterwards, right?' she'd never imagined a time when one of them wouldn't be around to laugh about it. Even during the year she'd spent without him. Even then she knew he was there if she needed him. He always would be.

She wiped her eyes and cursed herself inwardly for being so pathetic. There was nothing she could do now. She regained herself and squeezed his hand tight. She knew what was coming. 'I'll miss you.' She said quietly, hoping he could still hear the last words that would ever be said to him. And then she let go of his hand and stood up. Almost as if on cue, the monitor stopped beating and gave out one long, mournful note. 'Goodbye, Artemis Fowl.' she whispered.

**THE END**


End file.
